The process will have taken 17 years. If that feels like an age, it is a shorter timespan than seemed likely only 12 months ago.
At the end of last year, the government's stake—84.9% after the two-stage nationalisation by the last Labour administration in 2008-09—was still 38%. Now it is down to 11.4% after the latest "directed buyback", in which the bank bought shares from the Treasury for cancellation—in this case £1bn-worth.
NatWest probably has scope to fund another £1bn in the same way before spring, but the bulk of the shares will be shifted by straightforward sales in the stock market. It is this steady drip-feed of shares via a trading plan that has quietly made the difference in the past 12 months.
This story is from the November 12, 2024 edition of The Guardian.
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This story is from the November 12, 2024 edition of The Guardian.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 9,000+ magazines and newspapers.
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